Teen Titans- Masks
by ForeverTitan0013
Summary: When Robin comes up with a plan to overpower Slade, it affects everyone else. Will it be worth it, though?


_These guys are good,_ Shira thought, fighting the suited up thieves, trying to steal some computer chip._ Not that good, though,_ she conceitedly added, delivering a powerful kick, to one, and a few other, subsequently._ Takes one to know one._  
This was true. If you came across this girl, with long black hair, turquoise eyes, blue dress, and long black boots, you wouldn't suspect her having powers, to control water, telepathically communicate with others, and shapeshift. The Brotherhood of Evil had indeed trained her well. Too bad she wasn't going to carry out their plan, though. She was through with them, but wasn't so worried about their wrath, yet. Within a few minutes, the thieves were finished off. It was then that the six Titans found out that they were robots.  
_GREAT! THIS is what I trained at Hive Academy for. To not know when something's a robot or a hologram! I have to stop myself going soft!_, Shira agonized to herself. Her self scolding wasn't the most intense, though. Robin was going after another robot, whose suit was half black, half copper. Slade. Of late, this man had been the object of Robin's obsessions. Who is Slade?, Shira and the other titans would hear him musing, to himself. Apparently, Robin didn't know it was a robot. Just as he had taken it down, and was about to unmask it, she shouted out:  
"Robin, no! It's a-"  
"ROBOT!", he shouted, after unmasking it.

Robin seemed to be spending more time than usual, in his room, when the six of them got back to the tower. Starfire had been to check on him, but she said he didn't talk much. Shira was indifferent, however. The hostility she was supposed to feel, towards these people, she only truly felt, towards Robin, because he made her uncomfortable. It was clear that Starfire had the same sort of feelings for Robin, that she, Shira, felt towards Cyborg. Robin, on the other hand, was oblivious to this, and kept making advances on Shira , which she discouraged, strongly.  
"Your turn", Beast Boy said, breaking into her thoughts.  
"Say whaa-?", Shira said, confused.  
"We all tried to get Robin out of his room! Your turn to try."  
_Fat chance. He'll get the wrong idea!_, she mentally shouted.  
"Let him brood", she shrugged, getting back to her thoughts.  
Just then, the alarm went off. Trouble. But Robin was M.I.A.  
"Where is Robin?", Starfire asked, worried.  
"Go get him. We'll go tackle whatever's happening with the other microchip", Shira said, taking charge.  
At the store, they saw a figure, about to steal a heavily guarded micro chip.  
"Titans, go!", Cyborg called out. Quickly, the five of them proceeded, to attack the figure, preventing him from stealing the chip.  
_This is a human_, Shira thought, delivering a punch. He was wearing a mask, with a red x, at the head.  
"Who are you?", Raven asked the man.  
"Red X", he said, taking the chip and making a run for it.  
The chase led them to the subway, which led to another fight, in the midst of which Beast Boy was thrown to the tracks, with a train about to approach him. Quickly, Shira rushed to get him out of the way, but collided with Red X, who whisked them both away, in time.  
"Did you just save us?", Beast Boy asked, shocked. Quickly, Red X attacked him, and whisked Shira away. The battle was lost, again. Another microchip gone.  
"Who are you?", Shira asked, struggling to free herself from his grip. Reflexly, knowing that her teammates were out of sight, and not thinking that he would care about her extra powers, she turned her molecules to plasma, and slid from his grip, and proceeded to use her mother's powers to subdue him.  
"And that's what you get for kidnapping me", she snapped, pulling herself together.  
"How did you do that?", Red X asked, shocked.  
"What's it to you? You see loads of superhumans!"  
"You've never done that before, though"  
"How would you know?"  
He removed his mask, revealing himself to be Robin.  
"What is wrong with you? Why would you do this?!", she said, horrified.  
"I was going to tell you, right before you attacked me! And why haven't you ever used the powers you just used?"  
Trapped. Robin was the last person she wanted to tell. But she was quick.  
"Will you tell the others about Red X?"  
"No. They wouldn't play their parts convincingly, if they knew it was me?"  
"Why'd you tell me, then? It's not like I'd return the favor!"  
Robin was silent.  
"This will never happen, okay? We don't have time for this! I feel nothing! And you should master yourself", she said.  
"Fine. But don't tell any of the others? I promise not to tell your secret either."  
A compromise. Well, he seemed subdued. She decided to trust him.  
"Cyborg already knows. Madame Rouge, from the Brotherhood of Evil is my mother. I have her powers. The Brotherhood sent me to take down Beast Boy, before we finish off the Doom Patrol. I'm not doing it, though, because if I was into it, I'd have done you all in, a long time ago."  
"I believe you. So we're keeping these secrets? I have to do this, to find out who Slade is."  
"Okay.", she agreed, believing that they had reached an understanding, at last.  
Back at the tower, The other four launched into questions, once Shira returned.  
"Dude! How'd you escape that guy? What happened?", Beast Boy asked her.  
"You were worried, that some crackpot villain could take me down? Shira always wins", she said, confidently, not showing any signs of the secret she was now carrying, along with her own.  
"You sure you're okay?", Cyborg asked.  
"I just said I ALWAYS win. Do I look overpowered, to you? I took down Red X, but the microchip was gone. I searched everywhere, and there was nothing!", she said, getting testy.  
"Is everything okay?", Robin said, coming into the room.  
"We just had to take down some psychopath, without you! And he kidnapped Shira! Where were you?", Cyborg shouted. Shira felt warm inside, on hearing Cyborg shout out his concern, for her safety.  
Later, they had to tackle Red X, again, and were defeated.  
"You seem agitated", Cyborg said, to Shira, back at the tower.  
"I wasn't taught to be defeated, like this! I took him down, alone, why can't I do it now?", she agonized.  
"What happened, when he kidnapped you?"  
"I don't remember. I was gassed, and then...nothing."  
Robin told her to use this excuse, whenever the others asked this.  
"C'mon, we're scanning you", Cyborg said, leading her to the Titans' sick bay.  
"B-but I'm fine", she stammered, while Cyborg lay her down. She was feeling scared, and excited, because Cyborg was showing so much concern.  
"Xenothium! You've inhaled Xenothium!"  
"Whaaa...B-b-but I'm fine", she said, tearing up.  
"You never cry! That's what it's doing to you!"  
"Will it affect me?"  
"No. It's only so little, it'll get flushed out, soon. If anything, your Rouge powers are strengthened."  
"I'm scared", she whispered. And she was. She had no idea how far Robin would take the charade, or how long it would last. Just then, the alarm went off.  
"Looks like he's struck again. You want to sit this one out?", Cyborg asked her, taking her hand.  
"It'll make me more anxious. I'm coming", she said, sitting up, and rushing out.  
Once they reached Red X's new haunt, they were stopped by separate appearances of Starfire, and Slade.  
"Do not attack him!", Starfire cried out. Starfire knew! But how? Just then, Robin pulled off his mask, and urged the rest of them to tackle Slade.  
_This is the real deal_, Shira thought, pursuing Slade. This is what I'm putting myself up for, by choosing good, over evil.  
Eventually, though, it all came down to the battle between Slade and Robin, which was won by the former, as always.  
Back at the tower, nobody was willing to hear Robin out. It was only marginally comforting, hearing Cyborg express concern, about the xenothium.  
"What did you do, when you kidnapped her? She had xenothium in her system!", Cyborg shouted. "You're lucky she's Atlantean! No human could survive even traces of xenothium, without mutating!"  
"It was a lab, containing radioactive chemicals. We must've been near xenothium", was all Robin said.  
Shira nodded, when Starfire caught her eye. They needed to talk.  
"You okay?", Cyborg asked, sitting next to her, after Starfire was gone. Shira broke down. And this time, it wasn't the xenothium's actions.  
"Everything will be all right. Give it a while."  
She wanted to listen to him. It was comforting, being able to let go, in front of someone who knew her dark past, and understood most of it. Yes, this would pass. But it was still a dark time, for her.


End file.
